THE POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES REGARDING THE RUSSIAN GENOCIDE OF UKRAINIANS IN THE ХХ-ХХІ CENTURIES

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to analyze the evolution of the United States policy toward Ukraine vis-à-vis Russia during three presidential administrations of Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Biden, with an emphasis on the genocide of Ukrainians. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the analysis of the genocide of Ukrainians within the context of the century-old Cold War between Russia and the West using primary sources from the American military intelligence archives. Methodology. The author used historical research methodology to collect and triangulate primary and secondary sources and applied critical analysis of the content of governmental reports, archival documents, newspaper articles, and scholarly monographs. Conclusions. For the third time in history, Ukraine has become a battlefield in the geopolitical struggle between Russia and the West. While Woodrow Wilson made «the world safe for democracy», his principle of self-determination did not apply to Ukrainians; thus, Ukraine’s independence was sacrificed for the sake of «Russian unity». The consequences were the Red Terror and Lenin’s famine of 1921–1923 in Ukraine that drowned in blood its national liberation movement. Lenin’s disciple, Joseph Stalin, consolidated the totalitarian system and implemented his predecessor’s policy toward Ukraine which led to physical, biological, and cultural genocide against the largest non-Russian captive nation. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration not only did nothing, but also never acknowledged publicly Stalin’s crimes. American journalists along with politicians participated, albeit indirectly, in the Holodomor denial. The rehabilitation of Stalinism in Russia, revision of the past, and Holodomor denial have led to further escalation of violence on the eve of the ninetieth anniversary of the crime. President Joseph Biden called Russia’s actions in Ukraine a genocide. The next step is to draw a parallel to the Holodomor and respond to that denial by bringing the perpetrators of today’s genocide before an international tribunal to restore the rule of law and justice.